Apparatus for processing metal workpieces



May 12, 1936. R. u. GEIB. JR

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING METAL WORKPIECES Filed Oct. 9, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 6. M m A llly I A m l l \H IH| u 5 5 Mm m & a. 4 l n 7- M w w m. E 0 m l nvenior: ROBERT (1 65/5, J3

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APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING METAL WORKPIECES 1,44%IIILll/[la lawenlor: E055??- U. fi /aJ/e;

Patented May 12, 1936 l UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING METAL WORKPIECES Robert U. Geib, Jr., Edgewood, Pa.

Application October 9, 1933, Serial No. 692,877

6 Claims. (Cl. 80-13) This invention relates to the manufacture of tive to one another in such manner as to perseamless pipes and tubes from solid rounds, or mit the work-piece to assume an elliptical shape, billets, and any and all of the operations used or ovality. If a sufficient distance between the therein, such as piercing, expanding, elonworking surfaces of the guide rolls is not progating, reducing, etc., or any combination vided, the work-piece will freeze on the mant thereof. drel. On the other hand, if the distance be- In the manufacture of seamless pipes and tubes tween the working surfaces of the guide rolls is by the use of power-actuated metal-working too great, the metal of the work-piece will be rolls, considerable difficulty has been experienced excessively distorted and will not withstand the in obtaining a maximum yield of flawless prorepeated bending in its changes to and from ducts, or work-pieces. The necessary processing cylindrical and elliptical formation. That is to 10 of the metal of the work-piece by the metalsay, the pressure of the guide rolls should be-as working rolls must be very carefully controlled, small as possible, but at the same time the disotherwise upsetting will occur, or grooves and tortion of the work-piece mustbelimited as much ridges, annular bulging, tearing, uneven wall as possible, thickness, undesirable increased diameter, etc., If the metal of the work-piece, either in whole will appear in the product. In addition, a great or in part, is not in a desired state of plasticity many other limitations are encountered, such as (occasioned by insufficient heating or characterthe inability of the metal-working rolls to effect istics inherent in the metaL) the guide roll cthe desired amount of processing without resorttional contact should be lessened. If, on the ing to numerous subsequent operations, necesother hand, the metal is y highly heated and sary slowness of operation, and the tendency of therefore unusually plastic, its resistance to the most metal-working rolls to draw metal into the metal disp eficct of the W r0118 W l inlet of the roll pass at a greater rate of speed decrease. The metal will therefore have a tendthan that at which it is expelled from the outlet. ency toward excessive and injurious deformation,

25 When very substantial reductions or large or ovality, and while, as before stated, the

amounts of metal displacement are attempted, pressure of the guide rolls for limiting deformathe metal of the work-piece is considerably retion should ordinarily be as slight as possible, the duced in its longitudinal movement between the P ci y of the metal in this instance-will perrolls, and it is therefore highly desirable to .hasten mit the decrease of the injurious deformation y the delivery of metal through the outlet of the shortenin the is be e n the The efroll pass in order to prevent crowding. fect of this increased guide roll frictional contact There have been some recent developments W ll be o divert h peripheral flow occasioned which overcome a great many of the difliculties by the metal-working ls into a ud al referred to, and which particularly increase operdirection at an increased rate. t ating speeds for all types of processing mills, In One object of the invention is the provision" t accordance with these new developments, guide a novel apparatus f r Processing metal workmembers are positioned intermediate the usual Dicccs in Such manner as to consistently obtain metal-Working rolls and consist of power actup t pipes and tubes of the seamless type.

right angles to the line of the pass defined by p c is pr ed by p ssures in direct ratio to the metal-working rolls, and each having a peits p yripheral velocity in the direction of, and greater Another object is to provide a move means for than, the longitudinal travel of a work-piece procontrolling the distortion, or oval'ity, necesgressing therethrough. sary in seamless tube methods in such manner as 45 The effect of these rotating guide rolls is to to completely obviate the possibility of flaws or divert longitudinally the peripheral flow of the defects in the processed work-piece accruing metal of the work-piece, which is occasioned by om t us a inability to p with its V ythe metal-working rolls. In order to satisfacohel'aotelisticstorily accomplish this effect, the guide rolls A further object is to provide a novel appar- 50 should cause a tension, or at least materially reatus of the class described in which the metal duce the compression, of the metal in that porof the Work-piece is diverted from a tangential tion of the pass wherein the greater part of the path of travel imposed by the conventional heliprocessing, or displacement of the metal, is done. (tally-acting metal working rolls into a longitu- The guide rolls are positioned vertically reladinal direction, the diversion being exerted by a ated grooved rolls rotating on axes at substantial and by the use of h c the metal of the Work- 0 A pressure, the amount of which is determined by the plasticity of the metal.

A still further object is to provide a novel apparatus for automatically controlling the pressure of diversion in accordance with the temperature of various areas in single, or successive, work-pieces, separate means compensating for the varying decrease of plasticity characteristic of different metals at the same temperature.

These and further objects will be apparent after referring to the drawings, in which:

Figure l'is an end elevation showing part of the apparatus of the invention in section.

Figure 2 is a plan.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line III-III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an elevation on'the line IV-IV of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional representation of the results obtained by the practice of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 2 designates a housing which is provided with a pair of journals 3 for rotatably supporting a pair of shafts 4, each of which having secured to its end a conventional metal-working roll 5 such as is commonly used in the manufacture of seamless pipes and tubes.

The housing 2 is machined in such manner as to provide a vertical way 6 on either side of the metal-working rolls 5. A pair of sliding blocks 1 are adapted for movement in one of the vertical ways 6, and a similar pair of sliding blocks 8 adapted for movement in the other of the ways 6. Each of the blocks '1 and 8 is suitably apertured to provide a bearing for one end of a shaft 9 to which there is secured a grooved guide roll III.

-A pair of vertical shafts l2 are journaled on one side of the guide rolls 5 and provided with intermediate upper and lower threaded portions l2 and I2, respectively, of opposite pitch. A similar pair of vertical shafts l4 are journaled in the housing 2 on the other side of the metalworking rolls 5 and provided with intermediate upper and lower threaded portions M and I 4 respectively, likewise of opposite-pitch. The vertically sliding blocks 1 are screw threaded, as at I to cooperate with the upper and lower threaded portions on the shafts l2, l2 and I2", respectively, and the vertically sliding blocks 8 are similarly screw threaded, as at 8", to cooperate with the upper and lower threaded portions on the shafts l4, l4 and N respectively. A motor I5 is disposed adjacent the housing 2 and provided with a transmission unit I6, the latter having a lower driven shaft I1 and an upper driven shaft l8. A gear I9 is secured to the lower driven shaft l1, and a similar and cooperating gear 28 secured to the upper driven shaft l8, and are of such size as to be constantly in mesh. A drive shaft 2| is connected to the lower driven shaft 11 of the transmission unit and to the lower of the guide roll shafts 9 by means of Wobbler connections 22 and 23, and a similar drive shaft 24 is secured to the upper driven shaft I8 of the transmission unit and the upper of the guide roll shafts 9 by means of Wobbler connections 25 and 26.

A worm gear 21 is secured to the upper end of each of the vertically disposed shafts l 2, and a similar worm gear 28 is secured to the upper end of each of the vertically disposed shafts I4. The worm gears 21 and 28 are rotated by means of a shaft 28 which is suitably journaled on top .motor 33, both of the latter being suitably sup modifying the final effect of the motor 33.

' rolls 5 and the guide rolls Ill. The motor contro metal of the work-piece from tangential into sired state of plasticity, the guide roll frictional of the housing 2 and provided with worms 30 and 3|, respectively, which are in constant en gagement with the worm gears. The shaft 2 receives rotation from a selective gear reductio transmission unit 32 which is associated with ported adjacent the top of the housing 2.

The selective gear reduction transmission uni 32 is provided with a gear changing lever 32 0 The motor 33 is suitably controlled by a moto control unit generally indicated at 34, the latte having associated therewith a heat-responsiv circuit making-and-breaking device 35, such a a conventional photoelectric control unit.

The heat-responsive circuit making-and breaking device 35 is trained on a work-piec A prior to its entry between the metal-workin unit 34 is provided with any of the well kno types of starting and stopping devices, timed relays and reversing media for controlling the operation of the motor 33 to rotate the vertically disposed shafts l2 and M in such manner as to move the vertically sliding blocks 1 and 8 into and out of positions that are in direct ratio to the temperature of the work-piece A. If desired, the heat-responsive circuit making-and-breakin device 35 may be disconnected and the motor control unit 34 actuated manually by anoperator who is in a position to closely observe the condition of the work-piece.

A tapered piercing plug 36 is supported on a mandrel bar 31 and disposed intermediate the metal working rolls 5 and the guide rolls II).

In operation, the work-piece A, in the presen instance a solid roundor billet" which is to be pierced, is introduced into the metal-war rolls 5, where it is necked down to open the central fibers of the billet preparatory to being forced over the point of the piercing plug 36. This necking down operation displaces the metal of the work-piece into vertical deformation, or ovality, in addition to which a tendency toward elongation will be present. The guide rolls III are continuously rotated at a more rapid rate than the rotation of the metal-working rolls 5, and tend to divert successive increments of longitudinal movement and serve at the same time to prevent excessive distortion, or ovality.

As before mentioned, if the metal of the workpiece, either in whole or in part, is not in a decontact should belessened. On the other hand, if the metal is very highly heated, and therefore unusually plastic, its resistance to the metal displacing efiect of the metal-working rolls will decrease and the guide rolls l0 may therefore be brought closer together to more closely restrict the vertical deformation of the work-piece.

Referring to Figure 5 of the drawings, the number l8 indicates the vertical center line of the guide rolls I II with respect to the piercing plug 36, while the solid lines [0 represent the mean positions of the guide rolls with respect to one another. To cope with the varying conditions referred to, the guide rolls are graphically represented as being spaced toward and away from the piercing plug 36 by the dotted lines Ill and 1, respectively, it being understood, of course, that these positions are nominal and intended only for the purposes of illustration.

As each tube indication is recorded by the heatresponsive device 35. the motor 33 is operated (through the motor control unit 34 and the gearing hereinbefore referred to) to obtain the proper relative positions of the guide rolls.

The lever 32 of the selective gear reduction unit 32 is adjusted to compensate for varying degrees of plasticity characteristic of different metals atthe same temperature.

It is to be understood that the elements of the motor control unit 34 and the heat-responsive circuit making and breaking device 35 are merely described to illustrate conventional types of apparatus for controlling the motor 33, and form no part of the present invention other than as means; that any secondary means for modifying the operation of the motor 33 may be used in lieu of the selective gear reduction transmission unit 32; and that while I have shown and described one specific embodiment of several other aspects of the invention I do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of my invention, as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for processing tubular workpieces comprising, in combination, a pair of power-actuated metal-working rolls, means for continuously diverting the tangential flow of the metal of the work-piece into a longitudinal direction, means for moving said diverting means toward and away from said work-piece in accordance with the temperature of the work-piece, and secondary regulating means for further modifying the position of said diverting means in accordance with the resistance to displacement of the metal of the ork-piece.

2. Apparatus fr processing tubular workpieces comprising, in combination, a pair of power-actuated metal-working rolls, at least one guide roll having its axis substantially at right angles with respect to the pass line defined by said metal-working rolls, means for rotating said guide roll with its periphery in contact with the work-piece, means for automatically moving said guide roll toward and away from said work-piece in direct accordance with the temperature of said work-piece, and secondary regulating means for further modifying the position of said guide roll in accordance with the resistance to displacement of the metal of the work-piece.

3. Apparatus for processing tubular workpieces comprising, in combination, a pair of power-actuated metal-working rolls, at least one guide roll having its axis substantially at right angles with respect to the pass line defined by said metal-working rolls and adapted for vertical movement relative thereto, means for rotating said guide roll with its periphery in contact with the work-piece, means for moving said guide roll vertically in accordance with the temperatureof said work-piece, and regulating means for modifying said last named means in accordance with the resistance to displacement of the metalof the work-piece.

4. Apparatus for processing tubular metal work-pieces comprising, in combination, a pair of power-actuated metal-working rolls, means for continuously diverting the tangential flow of the metal of the work-piece into a longitudinal direction, means for automatically moving said diverting means toward and away from said work-piece in such manner as to minimize the distortion of the metal, and secondary means for modifying the effect of said last named means.

5. Apparatus for manufacturing pipes and tubes comprising a plurality of power-actuated metal-working rolls, said metal-working rolls being constructed and arranged to move the work-piece longitudinally and work the material of which it is composed, whereby portions of the work-piece are caused to bulge intermediate the guide roll disposed intermediate said metalworking rolls for limiting the bulgin; of the material of the work-piece and moving it longitudinally of its axis, in combination with means for registering the temperature of the work-piece, and means operated by said temperature-registering means for moving said power-actuated guide roll toward and away from the work-piece.

6. Apparatus for manufacturing pipes and tubes comprising a plurality of power-actuated metal-working rolls, said metal-working rolls being constructed and arranged to move the work-piece longitudinally and work the material of which it is composed, whereby portions of the work-piece are caused to bulge intermediate the metal-working rolls, at least one power-actuated guide roll disposed intermediate said metalworking rolls for limiting the bulging of the material of the work-piece and moving it longitudinally of its axis, in combination with means for registering the temperature of the work-piece, means operated by said temperature-registering means for moving said power-actuated guide roll toward and away from the work-piece, and separate means for modifying the operation ofsaid last named means.

ROBERT'U. GEIB, JR.

- metal-working rolls, at least one power-actuated I 

